1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to shoes or footwear worn by humankind, and more particularly to the support the shoes or footwear provide for the foot.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Problems with the foot, especially the condition known as "fallen arches" have been addressed in various shoe or footwear constructions. Included among these are two patents issued to the present inventor, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,159,767 and 5,203,095. The disclosures of each of these patents are hereby incorporated by reference herein. The emphasis in these prior art patents and in the other prior art embodiments known to the inventor are directed to providing relief by distributing weight from the arch toward the ball of the foot and also away from the heel.
For example, in the inventor's prior art patents, the embodiments were directed to an orthopedic apparatus and shoe incorporating the apparatus including a structure which cooperates to distribute weight from the arch area and heel of the foot toward the ball of the foot. This is accomplished by a combination of rigid and flexible members which cooperate with each other and the foot of the wearer. More particularly, in first and second embodiments, a first rigid reinforcing member is disposed inside of the shoe and located under the arch region of the foot and extends in the direction of the ball of the foot. A flexible supporting member is attached to the bottom of the shoe. A second rigid mounting member extends at an acute angle from the flexible member with the apex at the arch region back toward the heel region and forms the base for mounting of the heel to the shoe if a heel is to be provided. The flexible member, the second rigid member and the inside first rigid member are commonly attached by fasteners such as bolts or pop rivets in the arch region. The result is a pivot axis substantially transverse to the longitudinal axis of the shoe. The flexible member functions as a spring plate which is compressed toward the second rigid member. This serves to support and cushion the heel region of the foot. The first rigid member, extending forwardly toward the ball of the foot, in cooperation with the flexible spring member and second rigid member, serves to provide arch support and to distribute weight over the length of the foot.
In a third embodiment of the prior art orthopedic apparatus by the same inventor, the first rigid reinforcing member is eliminated from the inside of the shoe and replaced by a rigid reinforcing member in the form of a sole wedge which is disposed forward of the apex formed by the acute-angle connected mounting member and supporting member. The acute angle is maintained by a wedge disposed between the mounting member and supporting member. In the third embodiment, the apparatus is attached or bonded to an inner sole and an outer sole is placed over the orthopedic apparatus and bonded to the apparatus and the inner sole. A heel, also bonded to the apparatus, can be provided, or, alternatively, the heel can be eliminated.
In the second and third embodiments, a reinforced resin is used to provide either a flexible plate or a substantially rigid plate, depending upon the number of laminations of vinyl ester resin and graphite fabric employed.
The above corrective measures, while highly effective in addressing fallen arches, do not in themselves address problems people have in the ball of the foot. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide an orthopedic stabilizer attachment or sole design which distributes weight away from the ball of the foot toward the arch and/or the heel of the foot, thereby more evenly distributing the wearer's weight to alleviate pain or discomfort in the ball region, as well as in other regions of the foot.